Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe

This book has been praised as "an epic tale, told the way it should be" by Record Collector, "the book he was born to write" by Classic Rock Magazine, and "an entertaining read for long-standing fans and newcomers alike" by Guitarist. It is considered the final word on the only name truly synonymous with heavy metal: Black Sabbath.

Way back in the mists of time, when rock giants roamed the earth, the name Ozzy Osbourne was synonymous with the subversive and the dark. Back then, Ozzy was the singer in Black Sabbath, and they meant business. A four-piece formed from the ashes of two locally well-known groups called The Rare Breed (featuring Ozzy and bassist Geezer Butler) and Mythology (with guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward), all four founding members of the original Black Sabbath grew up within half a mile of each other.

This biography recounts how they made that dream a reality, and how it then spiralled into a nightmare for all of them. It details how, at the height of their fame, Sabbath discovered they had been so severely exploited by their managers that they didn't even own their own songs. It explores how they sought salvation from Don Arden, an even more notorious gangster figure, who resurrected their career but still left them indebted to him, both financially and personally. The narrative culminates in 1979 when they famously sacked Ozzy: "For being too out of control – even for us," as Bill Ward famously put it. The subsequent fifteen years saw a war erupt between the two camps: the post-Ozzy Sabbath and Ozzy himself, whose solo career eventually overshadowed Sabbath to such an extent that when he offered them the chance to reform around him, it was entirely on his terms. Or rather, on the terms of his wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, daughter of Don Arden.